


The Heart Always Remembers

by Xelkyrien



Series: Rapunzel's Freaky Friday [2]
Category: Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (Cartoon)
Genre: Absent Parents, Alchemy, Bodyswap, Complicated Relationships, Day of Hearts, F/M, Family Bonding, Family Dynamics, Family Issues, Gen, Identity Issues, M/M, Magic, Memory Loss, Other, soul swap
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-19
Updated: 2019-10-20
Packaged: 2020-12-23 23:17:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,866
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21089447
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Xelkyrien/pseuds/Xelkyrien
Summary: With Varian and Rapunzel stuck as each other Arianna, Frederic and Quirin are facing a dilemma. They must look inside themselves and examine both their own emotions and their relationships with their children and discover what exactly makes a family.





	1. What Makes a Daughter?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... we got Quirin in an episode a lot sooner than I thought we would... and it didn't help at all in figuring out what's going on with him. I'm starting to think that it's just back to "business as usual" and nothing really changed...  
Ah, well. Now that we have the royals and Quirin squared away in the show I got to writing their reactions to the news of what happened to their kids.

It had taken time, but things were finally returning to normal between King Frederic and Queen Arianna as their memories returned. As it turned out, all the two needed was to get to know one another again, going on dates and finding where their vastly different interests overlapped. Progress had been slow at first. A memory or two here or there had surfaced in response to certain sights or sounds or actions. The amount gradually increased as time wore on until they had back almost everything they had lost.

Despite this, the King and Queen had yet to return to governing Corona, hesitant to claim themselves healthy enough to rule. The first thing the royal parents had remembered was their daughter, a beautiful young lady named Rapunzel with flowing golden hair. However, their very eyes told them that their memories were mistaken. Their daughter was indeed a beautiful young lady, but her name was Varian and she had the same chocolate colored hair as her mother. They saw her at meal times and around the castle throughout the day, and upon being asked she had told them that she was never a blond and Rapunzel was the name of a friend of hers in Old Corona.

Finding this out had caused the pair more distress than they would care to admit to. After all, if they were wrong about this what other recovered memories may be wrong?

The King in particular was beginning to believe that he was mistaken about the relationship between the lost princess and her savior. All of the royals’ memories seemed to indicate that the two were in love. They even recalled Eugene’s shocking proposal at their daughter’s coronation banquet. Yet, seeing the pair interact with one another Frederic and Arianna would never suspect them of being anything more than friends.

On top of it all, Frederic and Arianna felt they weren’t as close with Varian as they remembered. They wanted to dismiss it as hesitancy due to their lack of memory, but that became more and more difficult to do with the more memories that returned to them. When they hugged their daughter they couldn’t detect the same love and affection that they remembered, that had been there since the moment she had been returned to them even after eighteen years apart. When they spoke it was like they were strangers. When they spent time together there was an awkwardness that hung in the air around the trio. It wasn’t that she behaved any differently, her behavior was exactly the same as they remembered; it was just that the connection between them seemed to have vanished.

Their daughter seemed to be the center of the dissonance in their memories; anything that wasn’t quite right lead back to her in some way.

In the beginning they had assumed that the fault was on their part, that their memories were the issue, but as they made more and more discoveries Frederic and Arianna started to doubt that too. It was little things that caught their attention first: the sad looks on Eugene, Lance’s and Pascal’s faces when they looked at Varian, the awkwardness that the staff seemed to regard her with, the shock and unease that took over the citizen’s features at seeing her, and the distance between her and them. It all added up to something not being right.

Then Arianna had found the painting.

She and Frederic had been reminiscing, walking through the halls where the paintings of royals before them hung. She had mentioned her own painting and how terrible it had been. In a moment of levity Frederic had suggested that perhaps it wasn’t as bad as they remembered, so Arianna had set out to prove it. The Queen had made her way to the storage room where she knew the painting should be, covered up so it couldn’t embarrass her. She did, indeed, find what she was looking for right where it was supposed to be, but she found something else as well that drained the mirth right out of her.

There was a new painting stored in the room right next to hers, covered up by a sheet. The Queen had removed the sheet to see what it was of and was met with two faces staring back at her. One she saw every day when she looked in the mirror, but the other was both familiar and foreign. The girl in the painting had her daughter’s face, but the girl’s hair was golden yellow and her emerald eyes seemed to hold so much fondness for her that it made Arianna’s heart ache. It was only a painting and yet it felt like a snapshot of their souls.

The queen had told her husband about what she had found and after seeing the painting he had agreed. It was at that point that they knew that something was very wrong with their daughter. The royal parents needed answers, and who better to turn to for them than the one person that has been by their little girl’s side since he discovered her in her tower?

Eugene seemed on edge as he entered the storage room. The royals had summoned him there and that was where they stood in the middle of the room, side by side, a covered painting in their hands. When they uncovered the painting to reveal the young blond in it something like sorrow flooded into the former thief’s brown eyes as well as another emotion they couldn’t quite place.

“Son, would you care to tell us what’s happened to our daughter?” The King asked with careful patience. He wanted answers, but he didn’t want Eugene mistaking his desperation to help his daughter for anger directed at him.

The pair watched as Eugene nodded and listened silently as the young man launched into an explanation of what had taken place only a few short weeks ago. When they seemed slightly confused he back tracked and began his story again, starting with their arrival back in Corona to give better context to his tale. The former thief skimmed over as much of the bad that Varian had done and emphasized as much of the good as he was able. He told them that the Saporians took over Corona and erased their memories, that Andrew wanted to use a formula that Varian had been working on to take the Saporian’s revenge on the kingdom, that Varian had sided with Rapunzel and helped to stop the Saporians. Eugene glossed over the treasure incident and everything else that had happened before getting back to his original tale. He told the pair about Friend’s Day and the animals running off, about the trap Rapunzel and Varian had encountered, about the purple gas that had resulted in the two swapping souls.

Eugene had to pause and take a deep breath to keep himself together before he continued. It still hurt to think about what had gone wrong, how he had lost the woman he loved as well as a good friend. They were both still here, but it wasn’t the same.

After regaining his composure the former thief finished his explanation. He recounted talking to Xavier and finding out they only had twenty-four hours to save the two. He told the royal parents about how Rapunzel and Varian’s memories slowly faded away and their personalities changed. He explained that Rapunzel hadn’t known enough yet and Varian didn’t know enough anymore to get the potion right, so their souls were trapped in the wrong bodies. Eugene told them about afterwards, how the two seemed to have retained the emotions they had felt for others when they were still themselves despite their personalities being almost completely different.

Then he waited, growing silent and taking in the King and Queen’s shocked expressions.

The Queen’s hand had shot up, her fingers pressed against her lips, and the way Frederic spluttered was not very kingly, to say the least. The two were still recovering from the wealth of earth-shattering information that had been dropped on them like a sack of bricks. The reason their daughter seemed so strange was because she wasn’t actually their daughter at all… or was she?

Shock was replaced by confusion as this thought settled into their minds. Their memories weren’t wrong. Rapunzel was their daughter, but what exactly did that mean? What makes a daughter, body or soul? If they understood this right, the girl living in the castle had the soul of Varian but the body of their daughter. She was still physically the same person Arianna had given birth to, even if she was spiritually somebody else entirely. On the other hand, the girl they had gotten so close to and formed bonds with was inhabiting the body of a stranger. If Eugene was to be believed, and there was no reason he shouldn’t be, that connection still existed even with the lack of blood relation.

Eventually, the King cleared his throat and regained his composure, speaking in the most kingly tone he could manage with his world having been turned upside down, “Thank you, son. You have given us much to think about.”

And with that the royal couple filed out of the room.

* * *

Arianna and Frederic spent the night discussing the issue. They both had similar questions and concerns and neither one of them could figure out which child was theirs, if either of them were. Perhaps even both of them were. In the end they decided that the best way to figure it out would be to spend time with the both of them and see how things went. The Day of Hearts festival tomorrow provided the perfect opportunity for them to carry out that plan.

The next morning the royal couple woke bright and early and took a carriage to Old Corona. They stopped just outside Quirin’s house, but didn’t get out of the carriage. Arianna and Frederic found themselves suddenly nervous, fearing they may turn out wrong about Rapunzel still having a connection to them. The royal parents weren’t sure they could bear the thought of losing their child again, regardless of what form she took. It took the two a few minutes to collect themselves, squeezing each other’s hands for reassurance, before they finally stepped out of the carriage and made their way up to the building.

Frederic and Arianna stepped through the door to the largest part of the building to see an all-to-familiar laboratory. Across the room they saw a boy milling about, adjusting things here and there on the equipment on his table and occasionally pausing to write something down on one of the many pieces of paper scattered around. Though the clothing he wore now was different they recognized this boy immediately. Yet, despite the terrible memories the two had of this child they felt none of the contempt or anger one might expect them too.

As he hadn’t seemed to notice the pair yet, still tinkering with his equipment and muttering under his breathing about the experiment he was running, Frederic took the initiative and stepped forward, clearing his through. The boy jumped at the sudden realization that he was no longer alone, dropping the beaker he had been holding. It smashed on the ground and its contents splattered across the floor, but the boy paid it no mind. He was far too preoccupied by his visitors to care about the spilled mixture.

Upon seeing the King and Queen in his laboratory the blue eyed teen dropped to the ground in a kneel, stuttering, “Y-your highnesses!”

“There’s no need for that, my boy.” Frederic told him, his tone kind. Arianna moved over to the teen, placing a hand on his elbow and guiding him back to standing. He looked between the two royals, his brow quirked in question. Behind the questioning look though the King and Queen saw something in those icy blue eyes: the familiar fondness they saw in the emerald orbs of the girl in the painting. Arianna gave him a gentle smile, the fond look mirrored in her own gaze, and explained, “Today’s the Day of Hearts. There’s going to be a festival and a parade in celebration and we were hoping you would join us, Rapunzel.”

“Really?” the teen asked, an excited smile lighting up his face as bright as the golden stripe in his hair. It fell quickly and he cast his gaze away, rubbing at the back of his head as he said, “I still have a lot of work to get done around here though…”

“Certainly it can wait a day?” The King smiled at the boy, placing his large hand on Rapunzel’s small shoulder. The teen seemed to take a moment to think about it for a moment before giving an awkward smile in return. He shrugged and replied, “I guess my lab will still be here tomorrow and there’s no rush on anything I’m working on.”

“Excellent. We’ll leave as soon as you’re ready.” Frederic clapped his hand on the boy’s shoulder and continued to smile gently at him. He stepped back to allow Arianna room to give the teen a side hug. Though Rapunzel was awkward throughout the whole interaction the affection between them was genuine. The royals then moved away, heading towards the door to give the young alchemist a moment to get ready.

“Oh, woah! Careful!” Rapunzel exclaimed suddenly, his expression becoming distressed as he gently wrapped his gloves fingers around the Queen’s wrist to stop her from moving forward. She turned to look at him, her expression surprised and questioning. He pointed down with his free hand and explained, “Volatile chemicals. You don’t want to step in that.”

“Oh!” Arianna said, looking down at the green puddle and bits of shattered beaker she had been about to step in. Rapunzel released her wrist as soon as she was aware of the danger and the Queen carefully stepped around the mess, offering a thank you for the warning. The young alchemist regarded the puddle, rubbing at the back of his head again with a frown marring his face, “I should probably clean this up before we go…”

* * *

When the carriage arrived back at the castle Varian was standing there ready to greet them. She smiled brightly and hugged her parents after they got out of the vehicle. Noticing Rapunzel as he got out after them she bid him a fond hello and gave him a tight hug as well. All three hugged the girl back, but the royal parents couldn’t help but notice the difference in how it felt from their interaction with Rapunzel. They felt a real connection with the teen. The couple also couldn’t help but notice that there seemed to be a real connection between the two children as well, like that of a brother and sister. Frederic and Arianna smiled at the sight. They had never had a second child after Rapunzel was kidnapped, had been too terrified to even consider it, so it warmed their hearts to see that their daughter had found a sibling in somebody.

With pleasantries out of the way headed into town for the festival. On the short walk there Rapunzel, Varian and Arianna had managed to get into an enthusiastic discussion about the glider the Queen had constructed not too long ago. Rapunzel chimed in with suggestions on how they could build something to generate wind artificially so they could adjust the height, direction and speed of the glider and it wouldn’t have to touch down until they were ready for it to. Varian had come in with her two cents about the aesthetic design of it, thinking they could make them in purple and paint the Corona sun symbol on them. The three thought they could offer rides to the citizens of the kingdom as a new form of long-distance transportation. Frederic watched them chat happily with each other, smiling at their excitement over their idea, and making comments whenever Rapunzel asked for his input on the matter. He wasn’t much of an adventurer, but he could appreciate their spirit.

Upon seeing the rows and rows of booths set up in town that had everything from games to food the kids gaped in wonder. It was easy to forget that the two didn’t have any memories of similar events to draw from to know what to expect, so they were understandably awestruck. Of course, they both knew they had attended such events in the past, but they couldn’t conjure any actual recollection of them.

Rapunzel and Varian dashed from booth to booth, dragging the King and Queen along with them. There was so much to see and do and only one day to see and do it all in. The royal couple allowed themselves to be pulled along by the hands. The children’s’ giddiness was contagious and the adults soon found themselves smiling and laughing as well. The four of them played darts, which Arianna won at with Varian coming in a close second. They walked through a petting zoo where Frederic explained how to identify types of bird by their eggs and Rapunzel added the fun fact that most avian eggshells are primarily comprised of calcium carbonate just like seashells and pearls. The group then moved on to more games and tried some of the food being sold: croissants, cupcakes, and candies all decorated in pinks and reds in honor of the Day of Hearts.

Before they knew it it was afternoon and the parade was beginning. All four of them made there way over to the side of the street where people had gathered to watch the performers come through. Frederic noticed Rapunzel standing on his toes, not quite tall enough yet to see over the shoulders of the people in front of them. He swiftly lifted the teen up and sat the young alchemist on his shoulders, giving him a better view of the parade. The king looked up at the boy, smiling at the look of sheer joy he saw on his face. He then glanced over at his wife, seeing her standing there side hugging Varian, the two brunettes seeming happy. After a moment the Queen looked over at him and met his gaze, a silent agreement passing between them. The connection still existed between Rapunzel and them, just as full of affection as ever. As far as they were concerned he was their son. Though they may not have a connection with Varian, they could build one with time. As far as they were concerned she was their daughter. They had two wonderful children.


	2. What Makes a Father?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a fair warning, if you like Quirin you should probably leave now.

Though he didn’t like to admit it Quirin knew he wasn’t the best father. He loved his son, but was never really able to connect with him. His wife was the one that was close to Varian and the boy took after her. She bridged the gap between them. When she had died it had hurt to be around their son, so much like his mother, and Quirin had drawn away, allowing a rift to form between them. He could distinctly recall a time when Varian had been about five years old and had managed to wander all the way to Corona because Quirin hadn’t been watching him like he should have. He had been shocked and terrified when a guard had brought the boy home late that evening and told him where he’d found his son.

Varian had always been that way: curious and too smart for his own good. It shouldn’t have been a surprise when the boy devoted his life to science. Personally, Quirin always thought it was magic and despite both his wife’s and his child’s insistence otherwise to this day he still couldn’t differentiate alchemy from witchcraft. He was a simple man, all things considered. First he had been a warrior for the Dark Kingdom and then when that kingdom had fallen he became a farmer. Of course, he was by no means stupid. He could read and write and he had a decent education. Quirin simply wasn’t devoted to academics, preferring to deal in matters of strength and physical prowess. It’s all he could truly offer to teach, which further contributed to the rift between him and his child.

Sometime later Quirin had tried, but rather than being content to do the grueling manual labor as everybody else did Varian had wanted to invent new tools to make the work easier and faster, often with disastrous results. The rest of the village had eventually decided that it would be in everybody’s best interest if Varian stayed away from the fields. After that failure it took some time before Quirin tried again, this time attempting to teach the boy how to fight. That turned into a disaster in an entirely different way. His son didn’t have his build or the years of practice he would have needed to have the muscle strength to lift a sword. No, Varian was scrawny and somewhat clumsy and had nearly cut his own foot off trying to handle the weapon he was given. Quirin viewed it as a failing on his part for not starting his son’s training sooner like he should have.

After that Quirin stopped trying. He was disappointed in himself. They were simply too different. He let Varian hole up in his laboratory while he returned to his farm work and leading his village. Despite the fact that they rarely saw one another, or perhaps because of it, his son had picked up on his disappointment and had mistakenly thought himself to be the cause. The boy had started making attempts to try to gain his approval, in his own unique way. However, it was that uniqueness that was the problem. The child worked diligently on his inventions and his witchcraft, trying to make things to help his village, to help Quirin, but his desperation to earn his father’s love made him hasty and too often the boy’s plans failed spectacularly. Too often they ended up causing more trouble for everybody and turning those in his village against him. With each attempt Quirin’s disappointment in himself grew but he could never bring himself to explain to his son that it wasn’t directed at him. As his father’s disappointment grew Varian’s efforts to try to please him increased proportionally. It turned into a vicious cycle that resulted in the boy growing up alone and friendless, hated by his neighbors and feared by his peers.

Things had gotten a little better after The Amber Incident was resolved. Quirin had finally told his son that he was proud of him, just like he had always meant to. The boy- young man really- had learned a sense of caution, a bit of humility, and how to pace himself a little better. They saw each other more and talked more often.

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end. After a year trapped in amber Quirin had a lot to catch up on and Old Corona needed repairs, so the man had to return to work and put in far too much overtime to make up for what he had missed. However, unlike before Varian hadn’t hidden away in his lab worrying about his father’s approval while the man was away. Instead the teen’s own absence from the village increased along with his father’s. His son was spending more and more time in Corona with the Princess. Though Quirin was glad his son had finally made a friend he occasionally felt a pang of jealousy over the fact that she seemed to have a closer relationship with his child than he did.

And then something had changed.

Quirin was ashamed to admit he hadn’t noticed it at first. His son had been waking up earlier in the mornings for the last few weeks and as such they often ran into one another in the kitchen as the teen was grabbing breakfast. That should have been the first sign that something was wrong, but the strangeness of it hadn’t even occurred to him.

It wasn’t until the second week of seeing him in the morning that Quirin had noticed that the colored striped in his son’s hair had become blond. When he had asked about it the boy had given him a confused look and told him that he was pretty sure it had always been that way. It was odd, but so much about his child was odd so he dismissed it.

It wasn’t until the third week that Quirin noticed that his boy had been spending an inordinate amount of time with the brunette man he had always seen accompanying the princess. When he had brought it up at dinner the young alchemist had froze, looking like a thief caught stealing at the market. The teen became sheepish and insisted that he and Eugene were just friends, while the deep blush coloring his cheeks claimed otherwise.

And it wasn’t until just yesterday that Quirin had realized that Varian wasn’t answering to his name. He had been calling to the boy for five minutes, as he needed somebody to retrieve a few of his tools from the house for him so he could finish repairing their neighbor’s roof. In the end he got down from the roof and retrieved them himself. Afterwards Quirin had set out to scold his son for ignoring him, but the youth simply regarded him with confusion. Frustrated, he ended up asking “Your name _is_ Varian, isn’t it?” but his frustration was swiftly replaced by concern as the boy answered with “No, it’s not!” in a tone that was completely serious and riddled with distressed over the situation.

Shocked and uncertain as to what he should do, he had apologized to his son and hadn’t thought to press the issue until morning. When he managed to get the teen to talk about it at breakfast Quirin learned that his son seemed to believe that the princess’s name was Varian and his was Rapunzel and that it had always been that way. This new information did nothing to alleviate his shock or his worry. A small part of Quirin even wondered if his child had finally gone mad.

Before he jumped to that conclusion he wanted to look for alternative answers, and who better to start with than the man his son had become so fond of?

* * *

Quirin took Eugene aside as he saw the man approaching his home. Without pausing for pleasantries the concerned father asked the brunette, “You spend a lot of time with my son. Why does he think his name is Rapunzel?”

“Because… it is?” the former thief replied, his statement making absolutely no sense to Quirin. After a moment tense silence Eugene launched into his explanation of the soul swap, just as he had done with the King and Queen. The speech sounded practiced, as though the younger man had recited the same story dozens of times.

Perhaps he had, considering what a monumental impact such an occurrence would have on the entire kingdom.

It left Quirin reeling.

* * *

He had walked away.

After hearing what Eugene had to say Quirin had walked away. If he didn’t know any better he would say the world had stopped spinning. In a daze he had nodded then turned on his heel and walked away, away from Eugene, away from the boy that wasn’t his son, away from the strange magic and the even stranger science, just… away.

Unbreakable black rocks that could destroy an entire kingdom? That, he understood.

An opal that could drive people mad? That, too, he understood.

But trading souls? What exactly did that entail? The former thief had told him that his son and the princess had both lost their memories but somehow retained their emotional ties. How did that work and what did it mean? Was Rapunzel his son or was Varian his daughter? Were they both his children?

… were neither?

The more he thought about it the more it felt as though he had lost his only child. Grief began to set in as he thought back to every interaction he had with Vari- Rapunzel over the last few weeks, analyzing every detail for any shred of evidence that his boy was still in there somewhere. The child still acted the same as he always had, but there were differences under the surface that he was only just noticing now. There may have been a rift between Quirin and Varian, but between Quirin and Rapunzel there was a vast chasm.

It was in the boy’s eyes and in his demeanor. Though the two spoke more often they had never been further apart. Whenever Varian had looked at him Quirin had seen a hopeful longing and later an eager joy. Both were missing from Rapunzel’s gaze. Before, Quirin’s son had almost seemed jittery with anticipation or deflated with guilt depending on whether it was before or after he had revealed his latest invention. After the amber there was an ease, a sort of openness between them. Rapunzel, on the other hand, was distant and a little closed off, just like one might be with a stranger.

There was no trace of the tenuous connection the two had begun to build. It was clear that Rapunzel believed Quirin was his father solely because some magic spell told him that that was the case.

And what of Varian?

She had no memories of him and Quirin’s mind couldn’t reconcile the image of the boy he knew with that of the princess. He could speak to her, perhaps try to form some sort of bond, but he doubted he could ever look at her and think of her as his daughter. Likewise, he doubted he could look at the young alchemist and still think of him as his son while knowing full-well that the youth was somebody else entirely.

Quirin wished that his son had simply gone mad. Madness was something that was understood, something that could be treated. There was no treatment for this.

The former warrior shook his head, for once feeling every bit as old as he actually was. As he continued to go over everything in his mind his train of thought turned in a different direction: Perhaps they would both be better off without him. Neither of them had any real memory of him. Rapunzel wasn’t actually his son and had no affection for him, so he couldn’t imagine the teen would miss him if he left. Varian… Varian had the King and Queen already. Both of them were extremely independent.

He had never been a real part of either of their lives… Why start now…?

It hurt to think about. Part of him screamed that he could try to be a father to them both, that he should try to make up for years of neglect like he had been doing before the switch. That part was drowned out by the larger part of him that already mourned the loss of his son in addition to the loss of his wife.

By the time night had fallen Quirin had made his decision.

* * *

The former warrior was in his room packing the rest of his belongings into his bag when he heard the sound of heavy boots against the stone floor. The sound grew closer until it stopped only a few feet away. Quirin turned to see Rapunzel standing in the doorway.

“Hey, dad. Are you going on a trip?” the teen asked, looking past the man with a puzzled expression at the bag of his belongings. Quirin’s mouth set in a frown and, not for the first time, he wondered if he was doing the right thing.

“Listen, Rapunzel.” The depressed man began, turning to face the youth. He placed a large hand on the boy’s small shoulder, causing concern to bleed into the alchemist’s perplexed expression. Quirin closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath before continuing, “I’m not your real father. Your parents are the King and Queen. You should be with them.”

Without looking at the boy, not wanting to see what might be lurking in his icy blue eyes, Quirin picked up his bag and stepped around him, walking out the door.

* * *

Rapunzel stood in stunned silence at Quirin’s words, barely registering it as the man he had thought was his father left. It was as though somebody had ripped out the rug from under his feet. His mind was struggling to process the information and he just stood there. He knew on some level that a part of him was waiting for his dad to come back. Surely he would come back and it would turn out that it was all a joke that wasn’t funny and his dad would apologize for scaring him like that.

After two hours of standing there reality finally sunk in. Rapunzel felt something inside of himself break, falling to his knees on the cold stone floor as tears began cascading down from his eyes with a pained sob. He wasn’t sure how long he had stayed there before he regained enough composure to pick himself up. The teen stood on shaky legs, making his way toward the door.

He opened it and stepped out, silently walking along the familiar path that lead to Corona. As soon as he was past the edge of his village the boy broke out into a sprint. The tears welled up in his eyes again and he let them fall, running at his top speed toward the city, towards the castle, to the comforting presence he knew resided there.

Eventually Rapunzel reached the castle and pounded on the doors. He knew it was late and everybody inside was probably asleep already, but last time he had seen the royals they told him that he could come by “any time” and he really couldn’t be alone right now.

Soon enough the doors opened, revealing Varian in her blue night gown, her long brown hair hanging loose. Behind her were the King and Queen, dressed in their sleepwear as well. Without hesitating the youth threw his arms around the princess, the girl who was like an older sister to him, and sobbed into her shoulder.

“Rapunzel, what happened? What’s wrong?” she asked as she wrapped her arms around him, concern coloring her voice. She rubbed soothing circles on his back, waiting for him to calm down enough to explain why he was so distraught. After several minutes of weeping the boy looked up at her, sniffling. His voice shook as he spoke, “My-my dad… H-he left me…”

Saying it out loud caused Rapunzel to devolve into another bout of sobbing, his thin frame trembling as he bawled into the princess’s shoulder once more. She held him tightly and soon he felt two more sets of arms wrapped around him as well. They stayed that way for a while and the next time Varian spoke there was enough conviction in her voice that he actually believed her, “Everything is going to be okay. I promise.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't hate me too much for this ending, ok?  
I don't have much to work with when it comes to Quirin since he doesn't show up much in the show, and that speaks volumes. I can honestly see this ending happening after an incident like this. He didn't leave out of malice. I'm not trying to paint him as a bad guy, just as somebody that's hurting and confused.


End file.
